Railroad crossings have long existed where automotive roads and highways cross railroad tracks. In early times, railroad crossing signs were posted to warn automotive vehicle drivers of railroad crossings to avoid the possibility of collisions. In later times, such signs were made larger and equipped with flashing lights which were activated upon the approach of a train. At major railroad crossings, barrier bars were installed that automatically raised and lowered in response to the approach and passing of trains. With the addition of such flashing lights, barrier bars, and other warning equipment, the foundations of railroad crossing signals have needed to provide stronger support in the ground aside railroad crossings. In addition, advances in communications technologies have created an increased need for railroad crossing signals to be installed in such a manner as to avoid damage to various preexisting underground obstacles including utility and communications lines, pipes, wires, and cables located in the ground alongside railroad tracks.
A number of construction methods have heretofore been employed to erect railroad crossing signal foundations. Precast foundations have been laid into holes in the ground aside railroad tracks. Such precast railroad signal foundations have been made and installed as unitary structures and also as in-ground assembled modules.
Poured concrete foundations have also been formed on the job site by digging a hole aside the railroad crossing, erecting a wood molding frame to contain poured concrete about the perimeter of the hole, and then pouring concrete into the frame. Metal cages, alone and in concert with wood boards, have also been embedded inside the concrete to provide additional support. The poured concrete foundations have been formed by pouring concrete continuously into a large wooden mold or by pouring concrete at separate intervals into separate layered molds one on top of the other over a period of time as the drying time of each layer allows. Once the poured concrete has set, the wood molding frames are normally removed prior to back-filling the holes with dirt around the poured foundation. However, workers in the field often do not in fact remove the wood frames, due to lack of discipline or a desire to cut corners, and the workers simply back-fill dirt on top of the wood frames rather than properly removing the wood frames. The failure to remove these wood frames creates the risk of instability of the foundation since the wood frames eventually rot in the ground against the foundation causing deterioration of foundation support and crumbling of adjacent earth walls.
Foundations of the types just described have proven costly to construct and not adapted to accommodate preexisting underground utility and communication lines. Installation of a poured concrete foundation with a mold requires considerable set up time and take down time for the wood mold frames. Also, prior to back filling the hole of poured concrete foundations or mounting signal support structures thereon, the concrete must set. If the concrete is poured in distinct layers, the drying time is further increased since each layer must dry before the next layer is poured. Indeed, it often takes up to three days to construct such poured concrete foundations during which time the hole remains open thereby creating a danger to passersby and exposing the drying concrete to outside elements which can lead to icing complications. Furthermore, both precast and in-situ poured concrete foundations have not been made to be readily adaptable at the job site to avoid disruption of preexisting underground utility and communications lines and pipes. This too has caused escalation in installation time and increased costs in order to avoid damaging the underground lines and pipes.
Accordingly, it is seen that a railroad crossing and traffic control signal foundation has long remained needed that may be produced and constructed in an adaptable, safe and cost efficient manner. It is to the provision of such therefore that the present invention is primarily directed.